


Love with the Proper Stranger

by Adhuber



Series: Laura [15]
Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: F/M, based on the movie Love with the Proper Stranger
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-08
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:20:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24609823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adhuber/pseuds/Adhuber
Summary: ADA Carisi needed to get away - clear his head.  A trip to a ski resort his mother suggested - he meets a young woman; could she be the one?  Now that life has gone upside down, he's trying to figure out how things will work when his mother calls.  How can everything go crazy at once?
Relationships: Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr./Original Female Character(s)
Series: Laura [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1538185
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 1

“Good afternoon,” he said as he stood at the counter of the ski resort hotel. His mother’s idea for him to get away was not one he usually would have agreed to if he did not really need to get away.

“Checking in?” the young man asked.

“Yes, Dominick Carisi,” he responded. 

“Ah yes, you are here with the St. Mary’s group. Here is your room key, there will be drinks at 7:00 in the bar and dinner will be 8:00”

“Thanks,” as he took the key and went to the elevators. He stood waiting when he noticed a young woman come up next to him. At first glance she reminded him of the teachers he had in grammar school. When the doors opened he held out his hand for her to enter. 

“Thank you,” she murmured. 

“Are you here for the retreat?”

“Yes, my neighbor lady insisted I come.”

“My mother told me to come.”

The young woman cautiously glanced up at the man, “Apparently being a single Catholic girl with no parents requires me to get married.”

Carisi had to laugh, “Now you sound like my mother.”

The bell of the elevator sounded and the woman pulled her bag out followed by Carisi. As they stopped at their doors next to each other. As the young woman slid her key in she seemed to sigh in defeat.

“Will I see you down for drinks?” he asked before she walked in.

She gave a small smile, and a nod before disappearing.

Inside his room he couldn’t stop thinking about the young woman, her eyes seemed sad, almost broken. He’d seen that look in the victims he had dealt with while being a detective in SVU. If he didn’t know better he would say she was a victim of some sort of abuse. 

He had just finished unpacking and putting his suitcase away when he looked at his watch. He needed to clean up a bit and head downstairs he thought to himself. It didn’t take long and he was just about to walk out when he heard his neighbor’s door open. He counted to 20 before walking out. He didn’t want to frighten the woman. As he walked out he had thought the elevator would have already taken the young woman down but instead he found her standing looking out the window. 

“You heading down?” he asked, he almost didn’t recognize her. Her hair was down, it was a copper red. His fingers itched to touch it. Stop it man, he told himself, don’t fall for the first woman you see. 

“I’m sorry,” as she turned and he caught the first real look at her.

Damn, he thought, she was probably the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. 

~~  
Things went fast that week. It didn’t take long for him and the young woman to be together. They went skiing, they ate together, they were a couple - it was obvious to everyone else that the two were meant to be together. Carisi had learned that the young woman was a librarian. That she had worked in DC but had moved back to New York to be closer to her brothers. They had set a date to meet for dinner the following week. He only dreaded having to return home and confess his mother that she had been right.

~~  
April came and the world seemed to have changed. Dominick was busy with trials getting moved around and setting up an office in his apartment. Not having the law books to pull was frustrating. When he saw that his mother had called again, he shook his head. He was going to run back by the SVU office one more time.

“Hey Rollins,” as he walked into the office to see his old partner sitting at her desk, “I’m looking to see if I can get a copy of,” he stopped as his phone buzzed again. “You know, I need to take this, sorry,” as he walked back into the hallway. “Yeah,ma?”

“Dominick, I need to see you.”

“Ma, with this quarantine thing going on I think,”

“You need to come over tonight.”

Frustrated at his mother’s demands, “Okay I’ll try” He had no real intention of actually going to his mother’s home. Returning to his former partner, “Sorry about that, my mother keeps calling.”

The blonde leaned back in her chair as she looked at the man, “Well she could be anxious with everything going on.”

“Yeah, well,”

“Just go over, she may feel better if she knows you are okay.”

Carisi wanted to roll his eyes, “yeah okay. Let me get some copies of these cases and I’ll go.”

The blonde smirked, “She’s your mom she just worries about you.”

~~  
He couldn’t stop himself from thinking about his former partner. She was just always there. She was, he stopped as he walked up the steps to his mother’s apartment building. No there was another woman, damn he had forgotten about her. They had planned dinner, it got canceled one thing or another, and then it was forgotten. Pushing the bell, maybe he could call her. She was good with research, he should call her.

He stopped when he heard the two men arguing,

“I don’t care who he is, he’s a worthless piece of shit for what he did.”

“Yeah but she keeps saying that he told her was in love with her.”

“He told her he loved her so he could get in her pants. If Mom and Dad were alive”

Carisi paused, he had to walk by the two men to get to his mom’s apartment. “Excuse me,” as he passed by. For some reason he felt like he was overhearing a conversation he might have to repeat.

“We ought to drag that SOB down to Father O’Malley’s.”

“We can’t make her do anything.”

Knocking on the door it opened instantly and he was pulled in with the door being shut. Before he could do anything he felt his mother’s hand come across his face. “Dominick Carisi, if your father was alive he would beat you with his belt,” his mother yelled. The small woman grabbed him by his shirt collar and drug him into the living room. 

“Ma, what I do?” he asked in almost a child like voice.

Shoving the large man into a chair, “You are a disgrace to your family. May God forgive you. I raised you better than this.”

As he sits up and adjusts his clothes he looks around only to see the family priest sitting across from him.

“Father, do you see what she’s doing?”

“Son, your mother has spoken to me about your sins, when was the last time you came to confession.”

“What are you talking about?”

His mother came back this time with a dishtowel and started swatting at him. “How could you, I sent you to meet a nice girl, the perfect girl, and what do you do? You seduce her and got her pregnant. I can’t even look at you.”

Carisi grabbed at the towel, “What are you talking about, who did I get pregnant?”

It was then that she walked into the room, tears streaming down her eyes, the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, Katherine (Erin) Ryan, the good Catholic girl from the retreat.


	2. Chapter 2

Dominick Carisi was dumb struck. He stared at the young woman he hadn’t seen since the retreat. Yeah he had wanted to catch up, he wanted to continue seeing her, and life got in the way. As everything started to fall into place he now realized what was going on around him. His mother had been trying to tell him, the men out in the hall must be Erin’s brothers. He should just go take the beating he deserved. He was the scum of the earth. 

January - he had woken up the last morning of the retreat with Erin asleep next to him. He had told her he was falling in love with her, they had made love that night. She had confessed her inexperience and he told her to trust him. He was just like the dogs he helped put in jail. She had said yes, after two weeks of him romancing her. It had taken him to say that one word for her to fall into bed with him. Yes he had been falling in love with her but then they came back to reality and his shallow mind had just about forgotten her. 

Standing up he went to the woman, “Why didn’t you call?”

“Don’t you start that,” his mother came up and pushed him away. “I did not send you both up there to meet for you to take advantage of poor Erin.”

“You knew her before?”

“Of course I did, she lives down the hall.”

Suddenly everything was making sense. His mother wanted him to meet a nice Catholic girl. The nice Catholic girl who had just moved into her building. Go on a retreat, maybe you will meet someone. “Ma, you set this whole thing up?”

“I sent you both to the same retreat, I didn’t know you’d both meet each other.”

The throbbing in his head was too much, “Ma, I’ve told you”

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Carisi, I shouldn’t have said anything. It’s obvious I was foolish,” as she moves past everyone on her way to the door.

“Erin, wait,” as he grabs her arm.

“Please don’t,” as she looks up into his eyes. “I thought you were the one, I”

“Erin, at least let’s talk about this,” as he pulled her closer to him. Damn he could smell her perfume, it smelled amazing, she looked amazing. Before he could stop himself he was kissing her. Oh this was what he had been missing. “We’ll get married, I have a contact at the city clerk’s office” 

“No,” as she reluctantly pushed him away. “I don’t want someone who isn’t in love with me.”

Dominick had to blink, “You’re carrying my baby, we’re going to get married.”

“NO,” she answered more firmly. “You don’t love me, I don’t know if you ever did.”

“What are you wanting then?”

“I don’t know,” as she cried, “I want bells and banjos, I want to know he loves me.”

“What, are you crazy?”

“Go away Nickie, you aren’t in love with me.”

Carisi stared at her, she had called him Nickie when he had told her his name. It had sounded like honey when it came off her lips. It sounded even better when she moaned it and asked for more. He was totally screwed.


	3. Chapter 3

Standing in his apartment he looked around. Had he ever thought about really having a family? No he lived in a tiny one bedroom apartment that was price controlled. The only thing he liked about his home was the kitchen. It wasn’t big but the kitchen was perfect. Well perfect for one. He really should get a bigger place, instead he had saved. Sitting at his make shift office, he wanted to call Rollins. Tell her everything. Wait what are you thinking. Amanda is the last person you need to be talking to. Maybe he could call Barba or Benson. Someone about how quickly he had screwed up everything. All those thoughts did not sound appealing. He wanted to see her. Erin. Looking at his phone he flipped it open and began going through pictures. It didn’t take long to find the pictures they had taken together. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Before he could stop himself he was dialing the phone.

“Hey, it’s me. I’m sorry. I want to make this work.”

“I don’t know,” she answered back.

“Tell me what I can do?”

“Maybe we can do dinner.”

“Yes, look with everything going on, I’ll make you dinner.”

“Okay,” she answered quietly.

“Great, tomorrow?”

“Um, yeah.”

“I’ll come pick you up.”

~~  
Picking up the last few files he needed before everything got shut down due to this illness, he was closing his briefcase when he heard a voice at the door.

“So you get to go home and work?”

“Yeah,” as he clicks the locks.

“You got plans tonight?”

“Um, yeah,” as he starts to move towards the door frame.

“You have plans?” the stunned blonde responds. “When have you ever had plans?”

“When I,” he was about to say, got my girlfriend pregnant, but that was not something he was going to share. “I’ve got a date.”

Laughing, “You have a date? Where’d you meet her? Did your mom finally set you up with one of her Good Catholic Girls?”

Carisi squeezed his eyes shut, “What does it matter? You were never interested, I got the hint, move forward with someone I can make a life with.” Woah, he thought, that came out really harsh. He never wanted to hurt Amanda’s feelings, but she kept pushing and he just let it go. “Look, I’m sorry but I have to go.”

~~  
Standing outside the door to Erin’s apartment, he had made it up here without running into her brother’s or his mother. The thought of coming here knocking on the door just to see his kid - nope that was not going to happen. He would win her over, they’d get married. They’d live happily ever after? Um, well he sure as hell would try. First thing he had to do was set boundaries - he couldn’t keep thinking about Rollins when he had - his mind stopped as the door opened. His jaw wanted to hit the floor when he saw her. She had a black dress on, the same dress she had worn when he knew he was falling fast.

“Hi,” she said with a smile.

“Um, hi, you ready?”

“Yeah, come on in,” as she opened the door for him to walk in. 

Walking in he was expecting to see his mother’s place, instead it was freshly painted, and lots of books and book cases. “I guess you bring your work home?’

She flashed him a smile as she disappeared behind a door and came back out with a strand of pearls. “Do you mind,” as she handed them to him.

The minute their fingers touched he felt it again, he wasn’t falling he was in love with her. Taking the necklace he slipped it around her neck and moved her hair away before fastening it. His fingers went back to her hair and caressed her neck as she turned back to him. He couldn’t help himself to lean down and capture her lips. He felt her hands slide up and around his neck and the kiss deepened. 

“Nickie,” she moaned.

“Erin,” as he moved to kiss her neck. What was he doing, as they made there way to her bedroom? 

“Nickie,” as he felt her fingers doing quick work of his shirt. 

Pulling away as her hands shoved the shirt off his shoulders, “Erin we should stop.”

“Why? What do we have to worry about?” as she sat down on the bed.

“Erin?”

Her lips stopped the words from coming out and before he knew what he was doing all rational thought had vanished and his mind shut down. He was pushing her dress up and off, his clothes were falling off just as quickly. “Please Nickie?”

~~  
He woke up an hour later with Erin wrapped around him. They had made love and he was no better than where he started. 

“Erin, we need to talk.” He watched as the woman stretched next to him. 

“Okay.”

“How far along are you?” as he sat up and looked at her. 

Seriousness came over the woman’s face as she pulled her knees up, “The doctors says about 12 weeks.”

Wiping his face, “so um, that means”

“I’m about done with the first trimester.”

“When did you find out?”

She pulls away and suddenly has become shy and pulls the sheet over her, “About five weeks ago. I tried calling you but”

“I’m sorry about that, I’ve been caught up in cases and”

She bites her lip and looks up at him, “I wanted you to know first, but I wasn’t feeling good and your mom came over to bring me some soup and”

“And she figured it out.”

“She knew as soon as I got home that we had met. It was like she read my thoughts, even those thoughts,” as she tilted her head.

“And I wasn’t exactly keeping quiet about meeting someone,” he answered.

“I’m so sorry,” as he pulled her to him and rested his head on hers. “Knowing my mother, she asked all sorts of questions.” 

“Nickie she knows me. We’ve been to mass together.”

“Okay, um,” he needs to think. “I want to marry you Erin. I do love you, I’ve just”

“I know,” as her body fits into his.

Banging on the door wakes them from their quiet bliss of deep thought. The yelling from the other side of the door lets them know who is hitting the door.

“Damn it, does she have a tracker on you?” Dominick asks.

“Ugh, I think so. She keeps telling me I’m too thin,” as she grabs her clothes and slips them on. 

He barely has his shoes back on when he can hear the door opening. His mother could be a real pain in the ass. 

“Did my son stand you up again?”

Maybe he could go out the fire escape, anything to escape his mother and her looks. 

“Mrs. Carisi, Dominick is” she pauses as she seems to search for the right words.

“That boy of mine is a fool if he lets you slip away. You know, I know a nice older man Anthony Rossini, now he’s never been married but”

“Oh let’s not give up on,” the younger woman tries to argue.

“Mother,” as Dominick walks out of the bedroom. “You’d push her to marry someone else because I was late?”

The older woman looks her son up and down. “Don’t think I don’t know what you’ve been up too. But yes, if you won’t marry her, I know a nice man who would.”

“I said I would marry her, she said no.”

“I doubt that this sweet girl is saying no to the father of her child. Obviously she can’t seem to say No to you seducing her back into the bedroom. You should be ashamed of yourself.”

“Mother, if you would please leave, I am taking Erin back to my place for dinner.”

“Obviously you’ve already had dessert.”

“Mother,” he had to stop her before her comments ended his relationship. 

“Well you might as well make yourself comfy. The governor has shut the state down. We are supposed to self isolate.”

“Uh,” Dominick looked between his mother and girlfriend. Could he call her that? 

“Anybody caught going out that doesn’t need to be can be arrested. You aren’t a police officer anymore Sonny.”


	4. Chapter 4

Quarantine was not something anybody wants to go through but when it’s part of a new relationship, it makes it more bearable. Yeah he was stuck at home except for necessary trips. Running to the grocery, picking up his clothes. Life was not so bad when you aren’t alone. In fact it was actually enjoyable. Dominick was able to write up his briefs and do research with the help of Erin. She spent most of her time reading and writing. He didn’t know what all was entailed in being a librarian. Remembering the old women who worked at the library he grew up going to as compared to Erin was often hard to imagine. Erin was beautiful, if he’d seen her as a kid growing up he might have thought Library science might not be so boring.

“Your mother left more food, and a package for you.”

“Thanks,” as he takes the package and looks at it. He pulls the paper off to find a jewelry box, popping it open he sees his Grandmother’s ring. Naturally his mother was at work here. Finding the note on the other side of the paper. “Do the right thing?” Ugh why was his mother putting on so much pressure? Going into the kitchen he could smell the lasagna. “Hey, um, I don’t know how long we are going to be stuck in quarantine, and honestly I’d prefer us to do this sooner than later,” as he gets down on one knee, “Erin, will you marry me.”

The woman looked at him and started to laugh and finally regains control, “All right, yes.”

Dominick quickly slid the ring on her finger and was pulling her in for a kiss. Kisses seemed to be their combined weakness and always ended them up in the bedroom. “You know kissing cannot keep landing us here,” he told her as he pulled on his shirts.

“I guess, but it’s fun.”

“I know it is, but what if I kiss you at my mother’s, or when we get married?

She grinned and crawled next to him. “Fine, but just so you know, you make me weak in the knees when you kiss me.”

~~  
The couple did not get much time to plan. Once his mother saw the ring on Erin’s finger a date was told to them and Erin was handed a large dress box. 

“Dominick I want you to wear your nice suit.”

“Ma, we can”

“You’ll get married in the Living Room. Erin’s brother’s will be here along with her cousin. Your sisters can’t make it - their afraid they’ll give me this virus.”

“You really don’t need to go to” Erin tried to say.

“Father Nicolini will be here at 5:00 we will have the wedding at 5:30 and dinner at 7:00.”

Erin looked at her soon to be husband who was wiping his face from annoyance. “Do we get to have any say in this?”

The older woman turned her full attention on her son, “You have a better idea Sonny?”

“No Ma, just thought”

“You just thought, maybe if you used that brain of yours you wouldn’t be in this situation.”

~~  
Dominick sat at his computer staring at the screen. He was going to be a married man and a father before the year was over. Not in his wildest dreams did he think he was going to have everything happen this quick. It wasn’t that he wasn’t happy, it was just so fast. When his phone buzzed he picked it up,

“Carisi.”

“Hey man, how is working from home?” 

“Fin, it’s good,” as he spun the chair around and saw his fiancé pulling out a wedding dress from the box his mother had given them earlier. 

“Good, good, um look we are seeing an increased number of domestics, we could really use your help.”

“Um well I’ve been doing arraignments via Skype.”

“Well I figured since you live alone you could come down, Rollins is at home, and the Cap’n is only coming in a couple of days.”

“Yeah, uh sure, but you should know I’m not at my place right now.”

“Oh?”

“It should be okay, I’ll uh wear a mask.”

~~  
Walking into his old station and back to his own area felt strange. Okay so it had been a month but with traffic being none, he had arrived in record time. 

“There’s the man, so what’s going on?” Fin asked as he stood up to shake his friends hand.

“Um yeah, look I need to tell you or at least let you know, I’ve been at my girlfriend/fiancé’s”

“Your what?” the older man stopped.

“Yeah, we are getting married on Friday.”

“Wow, I didn’t even know you were seeing someone.”

“We uh, met at that retreat I went too in January.”

A grin came on Fin’s face, “Oh I get it, when’s she due?”

Carisi pulled out a chair and sat down. He put his face in hands, “I uh”

“Your old lady must be pissed.”

“Uh not really.”

Fin plops down in his own chair, ‘She ain’t mad you knocked up some chick you met back in January?”

“My mother wanted me to meet her neighbor, I said no. She got me to go this retreat and had her neighbor go as well. We met, and now we are getting married.”

Fin began to laugh, “Your ma set you up after all and now you are going all in. Do you even like this woman?”

“Yeah I do. I love Erin and”

“You love her?”

“I told her I was falling in love with her and things got out of hand. Anyway we are quarantined together and i’m really happy.”

“Yeah, I bet you haven’t told Rollins.”

“Why should I? She doesn’t want me, she never did.”

Fin stopped and looked at his friend. “Well I won’t keep you long then. Don’t want you take home anything,” as he stands up. “So what does the future Mrs. Carisi do?”

“She a librarian.”

“Wow, that’s boring.”

“Hey she worked at the Library of Congress till she moved here.”

“Well maybe that might be interesting.”

~~  
Arriving home, Dominick felt like a huge weight had been lifted. Just talking to someone who was not family felt good. He knew Fin would give him crap but was not one to spread gossip. As he walked by his mother’s door he was not expecting her to open it.

“Sonny, Erin said you needed this,” as she hands him a tailors tape measure. 

Looking down at the item he was confused until the door further down opened and he saw his fiancé’s face. “Nickie, hurry, I need your help.”

The man looked from his mother to his girlfriend. He liked that term. Having someone that was with him. He walked quickly to her door and went in. Seeing a yoga mat on the floor, “What do you need?”

“I need you to measure my belly,” as she quickly got to the floor.

Dominick looked at the tape measure then the woman on the floor. Kneeling down he saw her pull her yoga pants down below her hips and her t-shirt over her bra. 

“Measure from my breast bone to my pelvic bone.”

Looking at the tape measure then her again - this was going to be interesting.


	5. Chapter 5

A wedding usually entails so much preparation but in the Carisi family it only took a mother’s will and desire. Dominick had been told the night before that he would be sleeping in his old bedroom. It would not be right for him to see the bride before they were married. His mother had a way of making his life more difficult than it needed to be. 

The day was long not having Erin around to help with his research. He ended up having to make phone calls and he was about to go in to work when he walked out and found several books at the door with pages marked. Yes he was in love with Erin. She obviously could read his mind - they worked great together. She made life easy and enjoyable. He finally got into a grove when his mother walked in.

“You need to go take a shower.”

“What, I gotta finish,”

“Your suit is pressed. Mia sent over a new tie.”

Looking up he saw his mother inching towards the power cord of his computer. Deciding to avoid what could turn into a huge screaming match he quickly shut the screen and followed his mother’s directions. 

~~  
By 4:30 a knock at the door alerted to Carisi that his life would never be the same in a few minutes. He was adjusting his tie and making sure every hair was just right. He had to look his best for Erin. A knock at the door alerted him he could come out. Walking out he didn’t see Erin anywhere.

“You’ll see her when the wedding starts,” he was told by his mother.

“Ma, why all the fuss, Erin and I”

“Shush, not in front of Father Nicolini.”

~~  
Music began and Dominick moved his head to crack his neck. The stress was getting to him. Then a door opened and he saw her. Everything seemed to stop. An angel began to walk towards him If he was dead then he was being greeted by an angel of the lord. When he blinked he saw Erin smile up at him. She was perfect.

The wedding went quickly. The priest skipped the traditional mass and had them state their vows and declare their love to each other and the witnesses. As they were declared husband and wife, they were greeted by the few guests who had come.

“Nickie, I want you to meet my brothers Mathew and Mark, and my cousin Lionel.”

Dominick shook the mens’ hands and thanked them for coming.

The brothers didn’t say much to him and kissed their sister on the cheek before leaving. Lionel just shook his head. “Your brothers are the same,” he told her. “Laura and the rest of the family is sorry they could not come.”

Erin looked down as if she was embarassed, “I’m sorry about your father,” she told him.

“It was all very sudden, but listen if you need anything, Blythe and I,”

“I know, and thank you.”

The older man hugged Erin and shook Dominick’s hand before he to left.

~~  
Married life was good. Erin was perfect in his eyes. As May came and passed things began to open. Dominick was going back in the office. Erin was going to the Library. They were both getting dressed for work. 

“Hey, so maybe you could have lunch together?” Dominick asked. “Maybe talk about baby names.” He walked into their bedroom and found her looking in the mirror. Her hair was pulled back and up in a french braid. “I could introduce you,” he hinted.

“Okay,” she answered softly.

Cocking his head to the side he saw the woman he first had met. The one who was quiet and shy - gone was the sexy woman who haunted his dreams. Pulling her to him, “Are you feeling okay?”

“Yes, I just have to get ready for work.”

~~  
Carisi wasn’t in his office long before he was called to the SVU office. Walking in he saw a little more activity than the last time he was there. He greeted Fin, Rollins and Kat. “So what do we have?”

“A woman was found running down the street of 5th avenue naked,” Fin begins. “She says she was raped and held in a house against her will for the last month.”

“And,”

“The suspect is in interrogation,” Rollins said as she looked Carisi up and down. “You look different, what’s going on?”

Carisi shrugged his shoulders, “Nothing is different, just gotten plenty of rest,” as he dodged the questions. Why was he keeping his left hand hidden if it was no big deal?

“Yeah, you do look different,” Fin jumped in. 

Why was the only other male in the area not on his side? Oh great and here comes the Captain. 

“Carisi?” Olivia asked. “The suspect claims that our victim was his long term girlfriend that they were quarantined together and the only reason she is claiming rape is they had an argument.”

“What they didn’t like each other?”

“I’m guessing not. You look refreshed from quarantine,” she commented.

“Yeah, it was good.”

“Hey how was that date you had?” Rollins jumped in.

“Good.”

Fin seemed more annoyed that he hadn’t just come out, “Oh come on man, just spill it.’

Standing up straighter, “All right, I got married.”

Olivia just stared and Rollins dropped her coffee. Fin began to laugh. 

“Erin and I met in January and well it just made sense to tie the knot since we were living together.” Okay that was somewhat of a lie. He looked at Fin in hopes he wouldn’t say more. 

“That was fast,” Rollins said. She looked stunned, shocked almost unbelieving. “So do you have a picture?”

Smiling he pulled out his phone. Flipping through the pictures he had taken - avoiding the ones showing her growing belly he stopped at one on their wedding day. Holding the phone out Olivia took it and zoomed in. “She’s pretty,” was the response as she handed the phone to Rollins.

“Woah, she’s so,” stopping before she says more.

Dominick suddenly felt defensive, as if Rollins could judge his wife. Of all people, “She’s perfect, and if it wasn’t for her I’d have been struggling with all the briefs I had to work on.”

Rollins handed back the phone, “So what do you know about her?”

“Everything. She’s a librarian. A brilliant one. She worked at the Library of Congress in DC, she got her degree at Rutgers.”

“Okay, but she”

“Oh and she’s related to Lionel Murphy, the banker.”

Olivia stopped, “Did you say Lionel Murphy?”

“Yeah, he’s her cousin. He came to our wedding.”


	6. Chapter 6

Olivia Benson did not want to get too involved in Dominick Carisi’s life. He had a right to privacy, but the more she thought about it the stranger it seemed that her friend from Chicago had family here in New York and they all seemed related. It had been awhile since she had called Hank Voight, maybe just get a feel for what her former detective was involved in. A few rings later she heard the gravely voice of Sargent Voight.

“Hank, it’s Olivia.”

“Hey how are you doing?”

“Good, hey I know it’s been awhile since we last spoke, but one of my former detectives just got married and I wanted to ask you something.”

“Well if your detective has married someone as wonderful as my wife, they are very lucky.”

Olivia smiles, ‘How are things going with your new family?”

“It’s good, the big news is Laura is pregnant.”

“Oh,” Olivia responded. “I didn’t realize you two were”

“Yeah, she’s on bed rest right now. Honestly it scares the hell out of me, but I’m excited at the same time.”

“Wow, well my former Detective Carisi, whom you met, he met a girl at a church retreat over the winter. Now with this quarantine ending, he came into the office to announce he got married.”

“Okay.”

“He said that his wife’s cousin is Lionel Murphy. If I recall you mentioned that your wife is related to the Murphy family.”

“Yeah, that’s her brother, Laura has never mentioned any cousins, but it doesn’t surprise me.”

“So what is with this family?”

“They are a big Catholic family - Laura comes from a family of nine - not the usual nuclear family.”

“And her brother Lionel?”

“He’s a nice guy.”

“Okay, well congratulations on your new addition to the family. Make sure to send me a picture.” Olivia hung up the phone when Rollins came in. 

“Sorry boss, we just got called on a case over at the NYU.”

~~  
Carisi was going through the law books in the shared office for the ADAs. He was actually glad to be back in the office. The smell, the murmuring of the other lawyers - he was able to focus. When his phone buzzed, he looked down and read, “Need you at New York Presbyterian.”

Why did he need to go to the hospital? Picking up the phone he clicked call, “Hey what’s up?”

“Sonny, you need to get down here quick.”

“Why, what’s the matter?”

“Your wife was attacked”


	7. Chapter 7

Carisi arrived at the hospital to a sea of insanity. The last place he wanted to be was near a hospital - especially after the mayor and governor had told people to stay at home. Running up to the nurses station, “Hey Dominick Carisi, my wife is here.”

“Name?”

“Erin Carisi.”

“No we don’t have anyone with that name.”

“Erin Ryan, that’s her maiden name. SVU brought her in.”

“Oh yeah, Katherine Ryan,”

Carisi shook his head and saw Rollins down the hall. “Amanda?”

Amanda ran to him, “Sonny, your wife was attacked.”

“I know, now what happened.”

Amanda leads him to some chairs, “Three college students attacked and raped Erin.”

“What?”

“She went into labor on the way to the hospital,” as Amanda sat down next to him. “I’m sorry,” 

Dominick felt like the world had stopped. Everything seemed to be falling apart. “And, and, Erin?”

“She’s sedated.”

“And”

“Another student came upon them and stopped the attack. There were cameras so it looks like it is an open and shut case.”

~~  
A few hours later, and Carisi was wheeling out his wife to his car. Nothing felt real. The tiny woman that sat in the passenger seat, the idea that he was married, the loss of a child - a little boy. At the apartment he barely had parked when his mother was there.

“Oh my poor girl,” as she opened the door. “Her brothers are upstairs.”

Dominick just nodded, did this mean that they didn’t have to be married, was he in love with Erin. Was it only for the idea of having a child that he told her the things he felt he had to say. 

As Erin walked into her apartment followed by Mama Carisi, Erin’s brothers both shoved Dominick back into the hall.

“Just cause she lost the baby does not give you an out.”

“You so much as think of walking out on our baby sister and it won’t matter that you are an ASA, they won’t find you.”

With a final shove the two large men walk away.

~~  
“You hate me, don’t you?” she asked in a small voice.

“No, I just don’t know where we go from here.”

The woman moved to sit on the far end of the sofa. “I never asked for this.”

Something inside him broke, he was suddenly there pulling her to him. “Erin it’s okay, you didn’t do anything.” She was in his lap crying as he rubbed her hair. “It’s okay, we will get through this. When you are all healed and ready, we can try again.”

His brain was just saying things, but somewhere deep down he felt those answers. Yes he loved his wife and he would do whatever it took to make her feel safe.


End file.
